Louisville opens online portal to track water safety at swimming pools

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Pool-goers around Louisville can check water safety results before jumping in.

Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness created an online portal that tracks inspection data for local pools and spas in Jefferson County. The inspection data includes pools in city and state parks, condos, apartments, hotels, amusement parks, recreation venues and private clubs.

"This is a proactive approach to prevent illness from recreational waters," Connie Mendel, director of Environmental Health at Louisville Metro Department of Public Health, said in a news release. "Having this data empowers individuals with information to make decisions about their own health and safety. It also helps us identify and track problems and work with pool operators to correct them."

Around 500 pools around Louisville are inspected. Each pool goes through a full inspection twice a year, while water samples are collected twice a week.

"During our regular inspection, we check all safety equipment, facility maintenance, water quality, filtration and general maintenance of the facility," Ciara Warren, Environmental Health Manager, said.

According to a news release, the new data is part of a national project to make aquatic inspection results available. Funding comes from a grant in part with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Environmental Health Association (NEHA).

Warren said there are no confirmed illnesses in Louisville caused by infectious pathogens in pools in the past five years.

The CDC said at least 208 outbreaks linked to treated recreational water occurred in the U.S. from 2015 to 2019. The outbreaks resulted in 3,646 cases of illness, 286 hospitalizations and 13 deaths. The CDC said deaths were attributed to Legionella, a bacteria that can cause a serious pneumonia-type illness.

To view the data portal, click here.